8779 - Aadhar enrolment of children yet to gather pace - The Hindu

KOCHI, September 29, 2015

Aadhar enrolment of children yet to gather pace

• M.P. PRAVEEN

Camps to enrol children aged below five years in anganwadis for Aadhaar has failed to gather momentum in Ernakulam owing to a variety of reasons.

So far, just 25,000 of the 2.5 lakh of the targeted group have been covered in the camps.

From parents’ lack of interest to blame game between Akshaya entrepreneurs and Social Justice Department officials and the apathy of a section of anganwadi workers towards enrolment, the reasons are plenty.

Children are spared of biometrics such as thumb impressions and iris scan but can be enrolled based on a photograph, proof of date of birth and Aadhaar card or enrolment slip of parents. Their biometrics need to be incorporated into the card before they attain 15 years.

“Parents are often not serious about enrolment of their children. At least, parents of children aged between three and five years would enrol their kids now with Aadhaar card being mandatory for school admission,” sources told The Hindu .

Then there is the lack of meeting ground between Akshaya entrepreneurs and the Child Development Services (ICDS) supervisors and Child Development Project Officers (CDPO) on various aspects from location of camps to the number of enrolments at a time.

Since the biometric device bought by Akshaya entrepreneurs are costly and need power and internet connectivity, they cannot be expected to set up the equipment just anywhere whereas the Social Justice Department officials want camps to be held at the anganwadis or places of their choice.

Besides, Akshaya entrepreneurs have to employ a biometric operator and a supervisor approved by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for enrolment of children. The supervisor has to put his or her thumb impression as counter verification of the child being enrolled.This means that there should be an adequate number of enrolments making the exercise feasible for entrepreneurs. But often the turnout for enrolment is either too many or too few.

8778 - Total digitisation is the answer to privacy woes - Governance Now

Total digitisation is the answer to privacy woes

A transformation, driven by cloudification and automation, of all Aadhaar enrollment, data storage and access processes is a key need today

Deepak Kumar | September 29, 2015

- See more at: http://www.governancenow.com/views/columns/tal-digitisation-the-answer-privacy-woes#sthash.Iap5xXwJ.dpuf

(Illustration: Ashish Asthana)

In this digital and social media age, the din about privacy is seemingly a big paradox. How come a generation that is so comfortable sharing the minutest details about their whereabouts, families and friends, and so candid about voicing their political, social and ideological views on open platforms like Facebook and Twitter, be bothered about a potential risk to privacy in a secure network like Aadhaar?

As attorney general Mukul Rohatgi has argued before a supreme court bench, “privacy” has been a vague concept and an earlier judgment had held it was not a “guaranteed right” under the constitution. As such, citing privacy concerns can indeed not be a basis to petition against the implementation of the Aadhaar scheme.

However, there also lies a counter argument: how come a vague concept be used as a basis to implement a scheme that potentially infringes upon privacy of citizens?

The debate around privacy, due to the vagueness surrounding it, can be a double-edged sword, which could be used to further either sets of arguments.

Why not do away with the vagueness?

Logically, defining the boundaries by which a government agency must adhere to when using the Aadhaar linked information of individuals should help settle the debate. For example, while it is certainly important to mandate use of Aadhaar numbers (at most in a phased manner), it is equally important that not every recorded activity be discretely passed on to various departments.

As a broad analogy, think of the call data records (CDRs) in the telecom billing systems. CDR information is shared with the government law enforcement agencies only in instances when a person is wanted or suspected in an illegal or anti-national activity, as an example. All Aadhaar-linked data should also be provisioned to lie dormant as long as the activities of individuals follow a normal pattern. Only when an aberration or breach is officially reported by a concerned agency should the information be shared.

In fact, by making use of sophisticated analytics, it would be very much possible to even define the aberrations in Aadhaar-linked activities of individuals that should raise a trigger, which in turn could draw the attention of a concerned official for any follow-up action. The analytics engine could continually be refined by being fed with new definitions of aberrations and trigger points as and when those are discovered.

Transparency is the key

The processes defining the trigger points should be well documented and made available for audit, say, to an independent panel of experts comprising a mix of technology, legal and constitutional experts, among other relevant members, if any.

Of course, individuals with criminal or terrorist records could be included in a threat list at the very outset, so as to ensure that their movements are duly captured and monitored in a more discrete manner. At the same time, the list may also be shared with the panel to ensure that no innocent citizen, whether by design or by error, gets labelled as a criminal in the records.

Also, it is important to ensure that certain types of data, like the health records, should constitute a privacy core with very stringent access parameters, and should be shared with other agencies only in the rarest of rare circumstances.

Implementation challenges

The biggest challenge, perhaps, would lie in the fact that different government departments and processes are at varying stages of digitisation, something that would make a uniform implementation of Aadhaar analytics difficult to begin with.

Moreover, defining the aberrations, triggers and exceptions in a vast set of Aadhaar-linked data can be a complex and time consuming process, and as such could be potentially frustrating for the implementing agencies.

Moreover, unlike PAN cards, which due to a linkage with income taxes tend to cover only a part of the population, Aadhaar cards are aimed at the entire population universe and hence also pose greater challenges of scale. Also, the bottom-of-pyramid socioeconomic segments would need to be incentivised to become part of the Aadhaar fold. This, in turn, poses its own set of challenges.

These, and other, challenges are reflected in the fact that the target of achieving 100 crore Aadhaar enrolments by June 2015 has turned out to be elusive.

App-ification of Aadhaar registration

It may be a good idea to leverage an already large — and growing — base of smartphone wielding mobile service subscribers in the country. One conceptually simple way would be to make it possible for people to register using an Aadhaar app. Further, if these mobile subscribers are also provisioned to do Aadhaar registrations for their family members using the same app, maybe subject to a physical verification to be carried out later, the whole process may be greatly speeded up. (Of course, other existing Aadhaar registration systems may continue to work in parallel).

Since mobile subscribers have already been verified through know your customer (KYC) processes in the past, the mobile numbers could actually serve as the first points of authentication. Also, it is not hard to conceive telcos as potential partners in this whole Aadhaar registration process. Their newfound capabilities in video-based solutions could be particularly helpful.

Leverage cloud to better privacy?

Counterintuitive though it may sound, cloudification of the registration process as well as access to all Aadhaar data could actually help address a large body of privacy-related concerns.

As of now, various private-sector implementation agencies have been contracted to speed up the Aadhaar registration process, which makes the data being captured vulnerable to unauthorised access. Moreover, there is a lot of manual intervention in the data capturing process and the data is also often stored locally, which further increases the risks of privacy breaches. For example, data such as fingerprint and iris scan are highly sensitive and any misuse of that could pose serious threats to the concerned individuals.

By digitising the entire enrolment process and making all data storage and access cloud based, it is quite possible to insulate personal data in a way that it is not subject to any manual intervention, even if the existing agencies and enrolment centres continue to serve as facilitators.

However, a valid concern remains that all citizen data that has hitherto been captured lies exposed. While destroying all localised records could mitigate the risks to a large extent, other safeguards would also need to be taken. This can be taken up as a separate activity by the concerned authorities. 

- See more at: http://www.governancenow.com/views/columns/tal-digitisation-the-answer-privacy-woes#sthash.Iap5xXwJ.dpuf

8777 - Supreme Court to hear pleas seeking changes in order on Aadhaar on October 6 - Economic Times

Supreme Court to hear pleas seeking changes in order on Aadhaar on October 6

By PTI | 29 Sep, 2015, 08.37PM IST

NEW DELHI: The RBI and SEBI, along with the governments of Gujarat and Jharkhand, today sought clarification and modifications in a Supreme Court order that Aadhaar card will not be mandatory for availing benefits of various welfare schemes. 

A bench of Justices J Chelameswar, S A Bobde and C Nagappan, while agreeing to hear on October 6 a batch of pleas, however raised the question whether it can entertain such interim applications after transferring the main petitions to a constitution bench to decide issues like right to privacy. 

"The question raised is this: Can we deal with it after referring the matters to constitution bench," the court asked. 

The RBI sought clarification as to whether an account can be opened in a bank on the basis of the Aadhar card for providing the benefit of pension or for getting paid for MNREGA. 

SEBI wanted to use the Aadhaar cards in the securities market to know whether the persons were active in the markets. 

Raising issues similar to the RBI, Jharkhand, in its plea, today sought to use Aadhaar cards in payments of pension and seek a declaration from pensioners that they are alive. 

Similarly, Gujarat also wanted to use these cards to identify target beneficiaries of its welfare schemes. 

The Supreme Court had earlier said that Aadhaar card will not be mandatory for availing benefits of welfare schemes. 

It had however also said that authorities may use Aadhaar cards in PDS scheme and "in particular for the purpose of distribution of food grains, etc and cooking fuel, such as kerosene. The Aadhaar card may also be used for the purpose of the LPG Distribution Scheme." 

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Gujarat, said that people are free to live wherever they want, but the government will have to find ways to identify target groups or persons for extending benefits of the welfare schemes. 

"If I have to identify the persons for granting benefits, I will have to find some ways to do so," he said, adding that the Government, as trustee of public funds, needs to identify target beneficiaries. 

The court has now asked the two states, RBI and SEBI to serve copies of their pleas to the petitioners who have challenged the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar card scheme.

8776 - Centre blinks on privacy for Aadhaar - TNN

Centre blinks on privacy for Aadhaar

Dhananjay Mahapatra,TNN | Sep 30, 2015, 01.00 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Finding it tough to implement social welfare schemes without Aadhaar cards, the Centre on Tuesday sought the Supreme Court's permission to use the Unique Identification Number data to identify beneficiaries for various schemes after junking its stand that citizens had no fundamental right to privacy.

Citing previous conflicting judgments on right to privacy by the SC, the Centre had defended Aadhaar cards, which contain citizens' biometric data, to counter the petitioners' plea that the casual manner of storing and protecting valuable personal details of citizens was prone to misuse and violation of right to privacy.

The Centre's non-negotiable stand on 'no right to privacy' had resulted in a three-judge bench of Justices J Chelameswar, S A Bobde and C Nagappan referring the matter to a larger bench on August 11 with an interim order barring the government from making Aadhaar cards mandatory for identification of citizens for deriving benefits under social welfare schemes.

Having decided to link social welfare schemes to Aadhaar cards, the Centre was caught in a bind and passed on the baton to Gujarat to commence arguments for a clarification to the August 11 order.

Appearing for the Centre, additional solicitor general Pinky Anand told the bench on Tuesday that Gujarat had a much more comprehensive clarification application and the state's counsel, senior advocate Harish Salve, would do a better job in explaining the peculiar circumstances that had forced the governments to approach the court for a clarification.Salve said citizens had full right to privacy, a stand that was exactly opposite to the stand taken by the Centre through attorney general Mukul Rohatgi during the arguments that preceded the August 11 interim order.

8775 - Nothing sinister about Aadhaar: Gujarat - The Hindu

NEW DELHI, September 29, 2015

Nothing sinister about Aadhaar: Gujarat

• KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL

The Aadhaar card scheme should not be seen in the sinister light of surveillance and censorship. Rather, it is a fool-proof method for the government to identify the actual beneficiaries of social benefit schemes and not get duped into spending taxpayers’ money on fraudsters, the Gujarat government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Gujarat, the first State to challenge the Supreme Court’s August 11, 2015 order not to make the card mandatory, said the debate on Aadhaar had been one-sided so far. It was time to see it from the government’s perspective.

“If somebody wants to live in the forest and have no contact with the government, it is perfectly all right for them to do so... But you have to understand that the government is the trustee of the taxpayers’ money,” senior advocate Harish Salve told a bench led by Justice J. Chelameswar. “The government has to identify the target beneficiaries to ensure that welfare schemes meant for them reach them and not someone else. Aadhaar is the method to make this identification.”

Gujarat argued that the apex court order stunted the benefits that accrued to individuals, particularly the poor and those who had no other form of identity. In a way, the August order prohibited voluntary use of Aadhaar card by citizens. The objective of the scheme was to clean up the welfare delivery system so that “nobody takes away the legitimate rights of the beneficiaries.”

In August, the same bench had restricted the mandatory use of Aadhaar to the public distribution system (PDS) and LPG distribution. It further confined the use of biometric information collected during Aadhaar enrolment only to criminal investigation.

In its application, Gujarat said the court order had impaired citizens’ ability to avail themselves of government services and schemes, other than PDS and LPG. “This court, while allowing the use of Aadhaar for PDS and LPG schemes, was guided by the right to food, which is contained in Article 21 of the Constitution. However, it is submitted that the schemes falling under other rights, viz, right to work, right to receive old age or disability pensions under the Article 21, may also be treated equally,” Gujarat argued.

Picking up the part in the order that said biometric data could be used only for criminal probe purposes, the application asked what could be done if the same unique data was essential for social benefit schemes as well.

Keywords: Aadhaar, UIDAI, censorship, public distribution system

8774 - Kudos for Aadhaar, but not congress: PM Modi at SAP Center - Economic Times

Kudos for Aadhaar, but not congress: PM Modi at SAP Center

By Jayadevan PK, | 29 Sep, 2015, 04.56AM IST

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San Jose: On a day he obliquely slams the Gandhis, he praises a key UPA initiative. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Aadhaar, the unique biometric identity issued to millions of Indians, has helped the country cut down on gas subsidy leakages. "At the older gas rates, nearly Rs 29 lakh crore were being stolen. 

Today, all that money has been saved in India's locker," Modi said in his speech at SAP Center in San Jose. The Aadhaar project, which was kicked off by the previous government, was briefly at risk of being scrapped by the new government. 

However, the Modi government endorsed it when it came to power. "Earlier, nearly 19 crore people used to claim gas subsidy and the government had to pay for it. When we joined Aadhaar and Jan Dhan account, it came down to 13-14 crore," said Modi. "This is part of my JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) Yojana," he said to the packed auditorium. Aadhaar recently faced a setback when the Supreme Court said it will not be compulsory for citizen to receive government benefits. Earlier in his speech, he attacked Congress regime. "In our country, it doesn't take long for leaders of the country to be blamed. He made Rs 50 crore, the other one made Rs 100 crore. Son made Rs 250 crore, daughter made Rs 500 crore, the son-inlaw made Rs 1,000 crore," said Modi in a thinly veiled attack at the Congress. 

Read more at:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/49145982.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

8773 - Narendra Modi at SAP Center: It is believed that 21st century is India’s century, says PM

Narendra Modi at SAP Center: It is believed that 21st century is India’s century, says PM

Across the world a new image of India has emerged. The old thoughts about India are going away, says PM Narendra Modi while addressing Indian community at SAP Center in San Jose.

By: FE Online | September 28, 2015 9:58 AM

PM Narendra Modi addresses Indian community at SAP Center in San Jose (California). He begins his speech by remembering martyr Bhagat Singh on his birthday today and moved on to Indian economy, saying that every research agency including Moody’s and World Bank agree that India is the fastest growing economy in the world.

Here are the highlights from his speech:

* It’s 28th September in India, today was martyr Bhagat Singh’s birthday, I bow down to him

* Today in the entire world India has a new identity, a new image. The old image has been forced down, and there is a reason

* Be it World Bank, Moody’s or any other research agency, everyone is saying India is the fastest growing economy in the world

* India is only nation which succeeded in its ‘Mars orbiter mission’ in just one attempt, look at commitment & capability of nation

* Brain drain can become brain gain

* E-Governance is easy, effective and economical governance

* Penetration of technology is immense. Everybody has mobile phones

* PM Modi explains the JAM concept. J = Jan Dhan financial inclusion program, A = Aadhaar unique identity card M = Mobile Governance

* Aadhaar has helped save subsidy wastage on 5 crore gas cylinders every month. Now subsidy only on 13 crore units.

* 30 lakh people have given up LPG subsidy in the #GiveItUp campaign.

* Across the world a new image of India has emerged. The old thoughts about India are going away

* Your fingers created magic on the keyboard and the computer and this gave India a new identity. Your skill & commitment is wonderful

* We would hear- we need to stop this brain drain. But India is Bahuratna Vasundhara, there will be many brains there

* Our Sikh brothers came here years ago & began living here. When Indian wanted freedom here too there was a movement for India’s freedom

* Jayaprakash Narayan ji who led the movement when emergency was imposed in India in 1975, studied from California, this is the bond we’ve shared with this place

* I am trying my best to live up to everyone’s expectations. Today, India is looked up to with hopes and dreams.

* It’s asked all around, who does 21st century belong to? It is being believed that the 21st century is India’s century

* I had assured you I will work round the clock for the well-being of the people

* I have faith in the nation because India is youthful. 65% of our population is under the age of 35

* Two main challenges facing the world are Terrorism and Global warming

* Terrorism is terrorism. There is no good terrorism & bad terrorism

* Direct Air India flight from Delhi to San-Francisco will fly thrice a week from December 02, 2015

First Published on September 28, 2015 7:56 am

© The Indian Express Online Media Pvt Ltd

TAGS: Narendra Modi

8772 - Aadhar issue spawns corruption - TNN

Aadhar issue spawns corruption

Sivakumar B,TNN | Sep 28, 2015, 10.43 AM IST

CHENNAI: City resident Shubham Khandelwal was shocked when he was asked to pay up for having his finger prints and iris taken for issue of Aadhaar card. Not willing to pay any bribe, Shubham contacted an NGO, fighting corruption in government departments, and a complaint was sent to the Unique Identification Authority, Bengaluru following which the erring official was punished. There are several such complaints Janaagraha, the NGO involved in exposing corrupt officials, gets from the general public daily. 

According to data available with TOI, the police department has maximum number of complaints about corruption and this is followed by the stamps and registration department. People from upper middle class and from others sections of society who have access to internet contact the NGO and file complaints about corrupt officials in various departments. 

"Since its launch on August 15, 2010, Ipaidabribe.com has recorded over 47,000 bribe reports amounting to over Rs 280 crore from more than 600 cities and towns in India. Last year alone, it saw close to12,655 pay bribes and bribe hotline reports being posted. Similarly,149 honest officer reports applauding the integrity of officers were also posted," said Janaagraha's coordinator Sylvia Veeraraghavan. Citizens log on to the website and file their complaints if they had paid the bribe or refused to pay. "Based on the complaints, we send it to the concerned authorities and ask them to take action against officials who sought bribe," said Sylvia. 

Manik Taneja, a sports enthusiast, was asked to cough up a hefty bribe by a customs official at Bengaluru airport for a Kayak he purchased from the US. After a prolonged argument, Manik paid the bribe, and then wrote about this incident on IPAB. His story, and his cooperation with custom officials, saw the official being put under temporary suspension, said Sylvia. 

In TN, since 2010, the website has received a maximum of 776 complaints against the police department from people with Chennai alone accounting for 550 complaints. This is followed by 273 complaints against the stamps and registration department. The website has names of honest officers as well. In this category too, police department has the maximum number of officers who did not seek bribes. There are 24 such upright officers whose names have been recommended by people who had to deal with the department. 

8771 - Delhi confidential: Man For The Job - Indian Express

Delhi confidential: Man For The Job

A K Antony appears to be the "go-to man" for all important matters in the Congress.

 New Delhi | Published:September 29, 2015 3:51 am

A K Antony appears to be the “go-to man” for all important matters in the Congress. He has been the point person for analysing the reasons for the party’s defeats in important elections, and is also known to be Sonia Gandhi’s choice when it comes to deciding alliances matters. Recently, the 75-year-old headed the committee which organised two rallies at Ramlila Maidan over the Land Acquisition Act. Going forward, he has been asked to oversee the culmination of the year-long celebrations for Jawaharlal Nehru’s 125th birth anniversary. In Tune Babul Supriyo has made good use of his Bollywood connections in the run-up to the first anniversary of the Swachh Bharat campaign. The MoS for Urban Development has roped in singers such as Shaan, Shreya Ghosal, Kailash Kher, Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik to lend their voice to the mission anthem, written by Javed Akhtar and composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar will do a special recitation as part of the song. While the anthem will be released on October 2, a video produced by Mukesh Bhatt will be released on Diwali. Supriyo says the project will be along the lines of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, which featured several top Bollywood stars. Power Play After the exit of Nandan Nilekani as chairman of UIDAI, which looks after the Aadhaar project, the position was kept vacant. Even after the new government came to power last year, nobody was appointed to the position. Now, with UIDAI having been put under the administrative control of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, officials believe the position of chairperson has been practically done away with. Some in the government also view this as an attempt to not give UIDAI the position of an independent, powerful body, which it used to be under Nilekani during the UPA regime. Outsourced The Ministry of Women and Child Development has engaged PR firm Perfect Relations for Rs 1.23 crore to manage the ministry’s social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, etc for the next two years. The agency has been asked to prepare a plan of action for the first two months and submit it by September 29. - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-confidential-man-for-the-job/#sthash.WXva33mW.dpuf

8770 - Hoping for a Diwali gift

Hoping for a Diwali gift

• STAFF REPORTER

Captain (Rtd.) K.K. Govindan Nair, Director, Department of Sainik Welfare, has said that a final picture on the One Rank One Pension (OROP) for ex-servicemen is likely to emerge before Diwali.

Mr. Nair warned ex-servicemen against falling for comments made by “misguiding elements.” He said only around 27,000 of the nearly 2.5 lakh defence pensioners here had registered for digital life certificates. The Aadhaar-based biometric verification system was introduced recently. It would enable defence pensioners, ex-servicemen, and family pensioners to get life certificates without going to the disbursing agency. The beneficiaries were required to provide Aadhaar number and mobile number at the disbursing office and the Sainik Welfare office. Mr. Nair said nearly 90 per cent of ex-servicemen in Kerala were yet to notify for the dependent pension to be claimed by unmarried, widowed, divorced and disabled daughters. It had to be done when the ex-servicemen was alive.

Col. Praveen Kumar, Director, Regional Centre, Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), said 32 hospitals and diagnostic centres in the State were empanelled in the ECHS scheme. While the empanelling of three more hospitals had been approved by the Centre, the final order was awaited. The process of including 22 more hospitals and diagnostic centres were in various stages of approval. He said the RCC and Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology were de-empanelled recently, as their treatment rates did not match with the Central Government Health Services rates.

8769 - Amid technological disruption, the system has to rethink how it regulates those things: Nandan Nilekani - Business Standard

Amid technological disruption, the system has to rethink how it regulates those things: Nandan Nilekani

Interview with ex-chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India & co-founder, Infosys

Raghu Krishnan & Bibhu Ranjan Mishra  |  Bengaluru 

September 29, 2015 Last Updated at 00:28 IST

Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of information technology giant Infosys and former chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, says Aadhaar 2.0 holds immense potential for the country, its people and for entrepreneurs. Edited excerpts of a talk with Raghu Krishnan & Bibhu Ranjan Mishra

What keeps you busy nowadays?
Broadly, one area where I am quite active, along with my wife, is EkStep (a learner-centric, technology-enabled platform designed to improve applied literacy and numeracy). I feel it's strategically quite important and if it succeeds, can have a huge impact on literacy.

The second thing is that using the knowledge of what's happening in the financial sector, Aadhaar and payments, I am trying to make people understand that we are at an important moment in financial sector disruption, which I call a 'WhatsApp moment'. That's really to use all the new things that are happening -- technology like smartphones with iris authentication, designs like Aadhaar-based payment systems and some things at a policy level like small banks and payment banks. So, how to drive change in the sector to reach a billion people and provide them access to all kinds of financial services.

Getting there is the journey; that's the hard step. I am also working with National Payments Corporation of India, where I am an advisor. I also do a few selective investments.

Recently, you invested in a start-up called Mubble. What attracted you to them?
Mubble is very specific to data. The big theme is when 500 million Indians will be coming on to smartphones --they will be very conscious of their data and how it's being used. Mubble looks at that usage and helps consumers be efficient in the way they use data.

I have also invested in Juggernaut, Chiki Sarkar's mobile-first content start-up. She has a fantastic track record as a publisher. She was my publisher before she quit Penguin. She understands writers, content and what grips readers, and it's a mobile-first strategy.

So, I am looking at interesting kinds of start-ups. I have also put investments into Team Indus because here is a company sitting in Domlur (in Bengaluru) and dreaming of putting something on the moon. We should support such ambitious ideas.

What does investment mean for you?
It's a very small part of my portfolio. It is only to encourage entrepreneurs who are thinking, innovating on new solutions that are unique to India. I am broadly looking at how technology can be used to make India (from) unorganised to organised. If you look at Western industrialisation, they went from small farms to big farms, from locksmiths to factories, and from small retailers to Wal-Mart and Tesco. So, you have to physically organise these into large companies to get the benefits of industrialisation.

The smartphone revolution is allowing you to aggregate millions of small producers to create a virtual large producer. So, when Ola and Uber engage hundreds of thousands of drivers, each one (of the drivers) is an entrepreneur and the platform is aggregating them. Airbnb is aggregating millions of small apartments, hospitality networks. Can you think about that in Indian retail, in Indian farming or logistics? To me, that's where the action is.

When you quit UIDAI and joined politics, did you have any doubt if Aadhaar was going to be continued?
There was obviously some amount of concerns. But, I think once they saw the value, they pushed it. That's the strength of the idea. It not only continued but was further accelerated. That shows it was an idea beyond politics. Aadhaar is a critical element of this government's strategy. Now, 920 million people have Aadhaar, which will touch a billion in a few months. What is interesting is that the big part of the )present central government's) Digital India programme is Aadhaar-based.

So, you did spend quite a bit of time to educate the government on usability of the Aadhaar platform?
When you create a new technology which has lots of potential, a big part of it is to evangelise its value. People have to be evangelised.

There are still some concerns about privacy.
Privacy is a bogus argument. Aadhaar has been designed for privacy; everything encrypted, everything secure. The database has been federated because the Aadhaar system does not know the banking system. Its data is not shared. The biometric data is not shared. Someone worried about privacy has to worry about a lot of other things. We have all these activists who are talking about privacy and they have a smartphone in their hand and their data is sent to Cupertino (Apple Inc headquarters) or Menlo Park (Facebook headquarters) or something. It's complete hypocrisy.

You talked of the WhatsApp moment. Are banks, particularly public sector ones, aware that they could be disrupted by this shift? They continue to open ATMs, bank branches.

My purpose of doing the WhatsApp moment in Indian financial services is multifold. One was to tell incumbents that this is coming, it's going to happen. There are just too many things happening - technology changes, regulatory change, government push, Jan-Dhan, Aadhaar. You'd better think about the implications for your strategy. One, to galvanise the incumbent banks, both private and publi, to wake up to this reality. Second, to tell the new class of players - payments, small banks, banks set up by telcos, set up by the Paytms of the world - the opportunity is bigger than what you thought. This is the game. It's your chance.

Coming to your book, 'Rebooting government', do you think the governance structure, whether it's parliament, executive or judiciary, would adopt the needed changes?
I am not talking about the organs of the system. Obviously, those are great institutions -- Constitution, judiciary. We are talking about the underlying machinery that implements your policy into action; that's where the challenge is. I am redesigning that. A part of the book is about the stuff we did at UIDAI -- Aadhaar, e-KYC, authentication, subsidy reforms, direct payments, cash transfers, GST, electronics tolling. A part of the book is about the future; how such thinking can be brought into health care, education, the power sector and improving the speed of judicial system; how do you change the network design.

It also talks about how governments should think of regulations in a changing world. Today, governments are facing Ola and Uber; they don't know what to do. In a fast changing world of technological disruption, the system has to rethink how it regulates those things. If it regulates too tightly, it will curb innovation. If it does not regulate, it could lead to chaos. These are all things one needs to think of.

You have spent fair bit of time in strengthening the centres for public policy such as IIHS, etc. Do you think we need more such institutions?
India should have intellectual infrastructure for the 21st century. We need more universities, more think-tanks. Otherwise, how are you going to have 100 smart cities?How are you going to fix agriculture, pollution, etc? This requires thinking. The US did that. If you think of the 20th century as the American century, it was not only because of their economic prowess. It was also because they laid the intellectual infrastructure with great institutions like Brookings, Carnegie, CDC, CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies), MIT, Princeton, etc. And, intellectual and research capacities in the universities and think-tanks provided the intellectual base for that development and growth.

Is the government doing enough in this front?
I think they are waking up to the requirement, though it has not happened yet. For example, we want to make IIHS (Indian Institute for Human Settlements) a world-class university but it's not that easy. I think once the government realises, which I think will happen, that sector will open up. Personally, I feel that really top-class foreign universities won't come here, as they are concerned about their brands. So, what is more important is to allow Indian philanthropists who want to create world-class Indian universities over the next few years, so that it can absorb some of the people who want education.

If you look at the Patel agitation (in Gujarat), its root cause is getting seats in educational institutions and government jobs. If India creates 10 new world-class universities, with private capital and philanthropic money, it will help in creating the intellectual infrastructure. Many a time, when people think of infrastructure, they used to think of it in physical terms. Now, they are beginning to realise the importance of digital infrastructure such as Aadhaar, e-KYC, mobile connectivity. The final part of the journey is intellectual infrastructure and that is embodied in think-tanks, research institutions and universities. That journey is yet to get started.

What about Infosys? When the leadership transition was happening last year, there were murmurs that you might come back to helm the company. Did you ever think about it?
Right from the beginning, one of the founding principles was that after the founders, the leadership would transition to a professional one. And, it would be a company run by the best leader, based on meritocracy. I think we are very fortunate that transition has happened and Vishal (Sikka) and his dynamic team are in charge. That's the right thing for the company.

Is the company moving in the right direction?
I think so. He (Sikka) is bringing in very dynamic thinking. He is taking Infosys to the next phase of journey, with design thinking and all that. We are very happy with his leadership.

You have also invested in a trust that would invest in media ventures. What is the objective?
My wife, Rohini, along with Azim Premji, is the anchor donor to the trust. It's a philanthropic initiative. She has donated some Rs 30 crore to set up a trust which will fund independent, public spirited media. That trust will make the decision.

8768 - AP detects glitches in Aadhaar-linked PDS distribution - Governance Now

AP detects glitches in Aadhaar-linked PDS distribution

State government’s study finds linking subsidized food grain distribution scheme to Aadhaar keeps beneficiaries out of the programme

Sonal Matharu | New Delhi | September 28, 2015

As the government of India is pushing for making the unique identification number (or aadhaar number) mandatory for accessing social welfare programmes, a recent study by the government of Andhra Pradesh shows that linking the 12-digit Aadhaar number to beneficiaries’ ration cards under the subsidized food grain distribution programme has lead to exclusion in the state.

The study found that more than 50 percent beneficiaries could not buy ration in the month of May because of reasons associated with Aadhaar. Either their fingerprint recognition failed or their Aadhaar numbers mismatched.

The Andhra Pradesh Food and Civil Supplies Corporation found that after the state installed Aadhaar-integrated electronic point-of-sale (E-PoS) machines at the fair price shops in May 2015, nearly one-fifth ration card holders did not buy their ration.

The E-PoS devices are handheld and electronically operated where the beneficiaries’ details such as how much ration they are entitled to receive per month, how much has been bought and how much is remaining is stored in a central server. Ration is given to beneficiaries depending on the details that show up after their Aadhaar number is fed into the device.

In many cases there was an Aadhaar mismatch, either the Aadhaar number did not match with the ration card number or the name of the beneficiary did not tally with the Aadhaar number. Malfunctioning of the E-PoS devices was another reason why beneficiaries could not purchase subsidized ration.

The study notes that the ration disbursement data captured from 5,358 fair price shops revealed that of 31,00,419 existing ration cards about 6,87,519 card holders did not take the ration in the month of May 2015. This is about 22 percent of the beneficiaries.

“When fair price shop-wise data was analysed it was found that in about 125 fair price shops the percentage of left over ration card holders is 50 percent and above. Of about 85,589 ration card holders in these 125 fair price shops, nearly 50,151 did not take ration in May 2015,” states the study.

When the government delved deeper in the issue, it was found that out of the 790 cases interviewed for the study, 400 reported exclusion. Out of the excluded cases, 290 were due to fingerprint mismatch and 93 were because of aadhaar card mismatch. The remaining 17 cases were due to failure of E-PoS.
The study was conducted in five shops - Mudigubba, Cheemakurthi, Ongole, Allur and Nellore – in three districts Prakasam, Nellore and Anantapur by the Society for Social Audit, Accountability and Transparency (SSAAT), an independent society under the department of rural development, government of Andhra Pradesh, set up to conduct social audits of the state’s flagship programmes.

- See more at: http://www.governancenow.com/news/regular-story/ap-detects-glitches-aadhaar-linked-pds-distribution#sthash.PbBEZrRF.dpuf

8767 - SC dismisses PIL challenging Aadhaar card requirement for DigiLocker scheme - Live Mint

Last Modified: Mon, Sep 28 2015. 01 33 PM IST

SC dismisses PIL challenging Aadhaar card requirement for DigiLocker scheme

SC refused to entertain a PIL challenging the requirement of Aadhaar card number for the DigiLocker scheme introduced by the govt earlier

Shreeja Sen 

A bench comprising chief justice H.L. Dattu and justice Amitava Roy said that if the authorities were not following the court’s orders, then he had to file a contempt petition. Photo: Mint

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the mandatory requirement of Aadhaar card number for the DigiLocker scheme introduced by the government earlier.

The petitioner had filed a writ petition in the light of three apex court orders which said that Aadhaar numbers could not be made compulsory for certain services like the public distribution scheme and cooking gas subsidies.

A bench comprising chief justice H.L. Dattu and justice Amitava Roy said that if the authorities were not following the court’s orders, then he had to file a contempt petition. After saying so, the court dismissed the PIL.

Mint reported in August that several key digital schemes introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including biometric attendance, Jan Dhan Yojana, digital certificates, pension payments and more recently payments banks, depend on the Aadhaar number.

Shreeja Sen

8766 - RBI moves SC for clarification of order on Aadhaar use - Financial Express

RBI moves SC for clarification of order on Aadhaar use

The RBI on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking clarification of its August 11 interim order that asked the government not to link Aadhaar...

By: Indu Bhan | New Delhi | September 29, 2015 12:52 AM

The RBI on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking clarification of its August 11 interim order that asked the government not to link Aadhaar, the unique identity number, to disbursal of subsidies and other sops under social welfare schemes.

In its submission, the central bank pleaded that the order should not prevent banks and financial institutions from accepting Aadhaar cards from persons who voluntarily submit the same for the purpose of proving their identity either in the absence of any other officially valid document or otherwise. It also wants the court to clarify that the August order does not preclude the banks from verifying and accepting valid Aadhaar card as identification of customers in case so desired by the customer.

The RBI submitted that the order should not restrict banks/FIs, payment systems from verifying and accepting a valid Aadhaar card from willing customers wanting to avail banking/financial services and banks from seeding valid Aadhaar card numbers to bank accounts of customers for receiving government subsidy for other remittances. “The banks and other FIs are required to know their customers before opening an account. This helps in preventing frauds… If the banks and FIs are required to stop using the Aadhaar car for these purposes, it would seriously retard the pace of financial inclusion for inclusive growth which is not in the interests of the poor people and the country at large,” the RBI’s application said.

Last week, the government had sought  modification of the SC’s interim order, saying the restriction was threatening to undermine its Digital India initiatives such as biometric attendance, Jan Dhan Yojana, digital certificates and pension payments.

According to the RBI, the successful implementation of social benefit schemes, opening and operation of bank accounts for availing financial services would also be necessary. “The key deriver of our country’s vision  of inclusive growth is financial inclusion. Financial inclusion may be defined as the process of ensuring access to appropriate financial products and services needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low income groups at an affordable cost in a fair and transparent manner by mainstream institutional projects,” it said.

In accordance with the vision of inclusive growth, according to RBI, it has adopted a ‘bank-led’ model for financial inclusion to provide low cost, effective information and communication technology-based banking services and the Aadhaar card plays a vital role in implementing the mission of financial inclusion.

RBI, as the principal monetary authority in the country, is responsible for laying down policies in the interest of monetary stability and sound economic growth, having due regard for interests of depositors, public interest and banking policy, the RBI application stated.

It submitted that if customers were not allowed to use Aadhaar card even voluntarily, it would result in hardships to a large number of customers of banks and FIs, especially from rural areas who may have no other officially valid document.

The three-judge bench of the apex court headed by Justice J. Chelameswar had said: “UIDAI/Aadhaar will not be used for any other purposes except PDS kerosene and LPG distribution system. Even for PDS kerosene and LPG distribution system, the card will not be mandatory.”

First Published on September 29, 2015 12:52 am

8765 - Jind becomes first district to link land record with aadhaar cards - Hindustan Times

Jind becomes first district to link land record with aadhaar cards

• HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, Rohtak |  Updated: Sep 28, 2015 22:54 IST

The Jind district administration has successfully completed the pilot project of linking land record with the aadhaar card to check corruption in the revenue department.

Jind deputy commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi said that Union government had identified two villages — Jaipur and Bishrapura — of the district under the pilot project. He said the work of linking land record with aadhaar card has been completed.

He said the step would help eliminate corrupt practices in the revenue department by putting a check on fake registration and sale of land. After the completion of the work of linking aadhaar, the DC said Jind had become first district of the country where the aadhaar cards of farmers had been linked with the land record.

He said officials of the revenue department have linked aadhaar cards of 992 and 3,054 farmers in Jaipur and Bishrapura villages, respectively.

Under this project, the farmers have also been provided digital lockers of their land record, he added.

8764 - 'Smartphones helping re-imagine business' - TNN

'Smartphones helping re-imagine business'

Shalina Pillai & Avik Das | TNN | Sep 27, 2015, 12.43 PM IST

BENGALURU: India's unique digital identity platform Aadhaar and the rapid rise in smartphone usage "open up a whole new way of looking at applications," said Nandan Nilekani, former UIDAI chairman.

Every business, he said, could be reimagined through a smartphone. "With the mobile, the two-factor authentication will be your phone and eye. We are working with four vendors who will embed iris cameras in their phones, expected to hit the market in the next six months. You can then get an Apple Pay-like experience on every phone," said Nilekani, who was delivering the keynote address at an annual event in IIM-Bangalore.

The event, Bzzwings, offers mentorship and support to aspiring entrepreneurs in implementing their ideas. Six startups were shortlisted for the final event and two received NSRCEL's incubation offer and equity fund of Rs 10 lakh. NSRCEL is IIM-B's entrepreneurship cell. Youth mentoring network The Climbers won a cash prize of Rs 40,000 and the incubation offer, while chronic disease management platform Medcync bagged the second offer.

The Climber is an online platform that helps students discover and pursue their passions by enabling them to select right career options. It was created by two engineering students, Sameer Ramesh and Mohammad Zeeshan, two years ago, after facing the same problems as teenagers.

Medcync was started by two management students, Sowmiya Reddy , Sachin Manishi, and an alumnus of Harvard Medical School, Dr Anupama Gangawati. They built Medcync as a support network for both the doctor and patient community 

8763 - Company on Aadhaar List of 18 Contractors Was Prosecuted - New Indian Express

Company on Aadhaar List of 18 Contractors Was Prosecuted

By Yatish Yadav

Published: 27th Sep 2015 08:40:49 AM

An applicant at an enrolment centre 

NEW DELHI:The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which generates the so-called ‘12-digit magic number’ better known as Aadhaar, in a recent RTI response provided details of 18 companies that it had awarded a total of 25 contracts to for various services under the scheme.

Among the list of companies is Gujarat-based Sai Infosystem (India) Limited, which was registered with the Registrar of Companies, Ahmedabad, in 2003. According to the response to the RTI query, the UIDAI contract was awarded to Sai Infosystem on February 2, 2011, for the purchase of biometric authentication.

In what raises concerns over the nature of scrutiny before awarding government contracts, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website, however, mentions that prosecution was launched against the company’s promoters for defrauding several banks in 2013.

The promoter and managing director of the company, Sunil Bhai Kakkad, was also arrested by Interpol in June last year. Kakkad was held in Monrovia, the capital of the West African country of Liberia. It is not yet clear whether the UIDAI terminated its contract after the Sai Infosystem fraud came to light. The Corporate Affairs Ministry website has listed 10 charges against the company, which is also known to have bagged several government contracts over the years.

Also on the list is L1 Identity Solutions Operating Company, which was awarded the contract for implementation of biometric solutions for the UIDAI on July 30, 2010. A month after signing the contract with the UIDAI, L1 Identity Solutions was acquired by French corporate conglomerate Safran SA Group. 

Interestingly, clause 15.3 of the contract agreements with L1 Identity Solutions says: “The data shall be retained by L1 Identity Solutions Operating Company for not more than a period of 7 years as per Retention Policy of Government of India or any other policy that UIDAI may adopt in future.”

On February 2, 2011, the UIDAI signed a contract with Sagem Morpho Security Pvt Ltd, which is owned by Safran SA Group, for the purchase of biometric authentication devices.

In response to the RTI application filed by Anil Vedvyas Galgali of Mumbai, the UIDAI also revealed on September 4 that the total outlay for the project was `13,663.22 crore, and that since its inception it had incurred `6,562.88 crore up to last month.

Among the companies which were awarded contracts, Telsima Communications Pvt Ltd was signed by the Central government agency for hiring of space for the UIDAI Biometrics Centre of Competence (UBCC) on January 27, 2011. Telsima, based in New Delhi, was floated in 2000. As per the Ministry of Corporate Affairs data, Telsima has three directors on board—Raj Kumar, John Joseph Madigan and Vikas Kumar Jain.

In February 2011, the UIDAI signed a contract with Geodesic Ltd for the purchase of biometric authentication devices. Mumbai-based Geodesic includes Pankaj Kumar, Kiran Kulkarni and Prashant Mulekar on its board. Pankaj, an alumnus of IIT-Roorkee, had been adviser to SCO prior to founding Geodesic. 

Another contract was signed in February 2011 with Totem International Ltd, also for the purchase of biometric authentication devices. Totem international was floated in 2009, and the company has two directors—Firoze Zia Hussain and Munchoor Lokayya Shetty.

Magic Number BJP Wanted To Scrap

In the run-up to the 2014 general elections, the BJP had criticised the Aadhaar project, and had even promised to scrap it if voted to power. The then BJP’s general secretary and now Union Fertilisers Minister, Ananth Kumar, had said that if elected, BJP would not only scrap the UIDAI, but also initiate criminal proceedings against those who were responsible for the scheme in which a large amount of public money was misused.

The Supreme Court, on August 11, barred the government from making Aadhaar card mandatory for individuals to avail benefits of welfare schemes, and directed it not to share personal biometric data collected for enrolment under the scheme to any authority.

The RTI response received by Galgali says, “There is no tendering process for the empanelment of enrolment agencies. The empanelment of agencies is being done under empanelment process guidelines contained in RFE 2014, dated May 19, 2014... As on date (August 24, 2015) 90.30 crore Aadhaar have been issued.”

List of Companies Awarded Contracts by UIDAI

1 HCL Infosystems

2 HP India Sales Pvt Ltd

3 Wipro Ltd

4 MAC Associates

5 National Informatics Centre Services Inc

6  Sagem Morpho Security Pvt.Ltd

7 Totem International Ltd

8 Linkwell Telesystems Pvt Ltd

9 Sai infosystem (India) Ltd

10 Geodesic Ltd

11 ID Solutions

12 NISG

13 STQC

14 Telsima Communication Pvt Ltd

15 Aircel, Bharti Airtel Ltd, BSNL, RailTel Corporation of India Ltd, Reliance Communications, Tata Communications

16 Tata Consultancy Services Ltd

17 Satyam Computer Services Ltd. (Mahindra Satyam)

18 L1 Identity Solutions Operating Company

8762 - Editorial: Silicon charms - Financial Express

Editorial: Silicon charms

Narendra Modi’s digital initiatives certain to charm the Valley

By: The Financial Express | September 26, 2015 2:18 AM

It is not surprising that Narendra Modi is the first Indian prime minister in more than three decades to visit Silicon Valley since few of his predecessors were either interested in using technology in the way he is, or had much to offer by way of either expertise or business opportunities. Even before Modi became the prime minister, Indian IT firms had established their presence on the international scene, at least at the low end of the market—and firms like GE and Microsoft already had R&D centres doing reasonable quality work here. And, as Nasscom’s recent study points out, while the Indian tech industry has invested $2 billion in the US between FY11 and FY13—and $8.2 billion in operational expenditure in FY13 alone—it supported 4.1 lakh jobs in the US in FY15 alone, of which 3 lakh were for US nationals and green card holders; between FY11 and FY15, a total of $20 billion have been paid by way of taxes to the US government and another $6.6 billion by way of social security contributions. Over a period of time, the quality of Indian tech has improved vastly, which is why US money is finding its way into Indian startups—you have to visit Bengaluru only once to see how tech is progressing, there is even an Indian team participating in Google’s Moon 2.0 programme; indeed, Modi will be speaking at an event in San Jose which showcases the innovation of Indian startups.

Nandan Nilekani’s Aadhaar took this a step forward and firmly established the Indian government’s credentials as a low-cost innovator with huge potential for scaling up—once the biometrics-driven direct benefits transfer programme takes off, it will be the only one of its type in the world with such scale. While adopting Nilekani’s Aadhaar, Modi has added a few more layers on top of this. His ambitious 100,000 MW by 2022 solar power target presents a big challenge as well as a big opportunity for US tech firms including Tesla, whose campus he will be visiting. Digital India is another huge opportunity, in terms of both money and technology. Google’s Project Loon, for instance, can play a role in this, and spreading the internet is also what Facebook’s internet.org is all about. Billions of dollars of equipment will be required when India is fully connected through Digital India, and a large part of it will come from US firms. To achieve its full potential, Digital India will need more satellite technology—US firm Hughes Communications has been trying for half a decade to make a breakthrough here—and it also means India will need to spread its telecom network wider, and fix all remaining issues of spectrum etc. Digital locker means government departments will have to truly modernise to be able to give you digital land records, education degrees etc and Digital India will allow governments—and citizens—to keep tabs on all citizen services across the country, 24×7. In other words, apart from the commercial and philanthropic opportunities this offers techies—both are equally important—Digital India is the essential techie dream of being able to solve the world’s problems using tech, bypassing the messy interface that human beings represent.

There’s only one fly in the ointment in this perfect picture—Silicon Valley tends to be more liberal than the Modi government comes across as being; Modi’s Beti Bachao Aandolan goes down well with Silicon Valley but Mahesh Sharma’s Despite-Being-A-Muslim represents every bit of bigotry the Valley abhors. 

It helps, of course, that Modi’s government has been on the politically correct side of the net neutrality debate and quickly withdrew the encryption policy draft that was seen as an instrument of an intrusive state. Though US tech titans posed for pictures with Chinese president Xi Jinping just a few days ago, chances are their smiles will be warmer when doing the same with Modi.

First Published on September 26, 2015 2:18 am

8761 - India set to become data rich soon: Nilekani - TNN

India set to become data rich soon: Nilekani

Shalina Pillai & Avik Das | TNN | Sep 26, 2015, 08.44 PM IST

BENGALURU: India is set to become data rich from data poor in three to four years, helped by higher penetration of Aadhaar cards and a rise in people who own smartphones, former Infosys co-founder and chief executive, Nandan Nilekani, said. 

Nilekani said that India's unique digital identity platform, which is expected to cover about a billion people by 2016, and the rapid rise in smartphone usage "opens up a whole new way of looking at applications." 

"These, added with the government's thrust on financial inclusion to have bank accounts for all its citizens, creates an infrastructure that has never happened before," according to Nilekani, who was delivering a keynote address at an annual event in IIM Bangalore. 

"In the last one month, we have given more bank licences than in the last 40 years. That is the kind of revolution that is going to happen - universalization of bank accounts," he said. 

The event, Bzzwings, offers mentorship and support to aspiring entrepreneurs in implementing and scaling up their ideas. Six startups were shortlisted for the final event, and two got NSRCEL's incubation offer and equity fund of Rs 10 lakh. 

Youth mentoring network, The Climbers, won the cash prize of Rs 40,000 and the incubation offer, while chronic disease management platform, Medcync, bagged the second offer.

The Climber is an online platform that helps students discover and pursue their passions by enabling them to select right career options. It was created by two engineering students, Sameer Ramesh and Mohammad Zeeshan two years ago, after facing the same problems as teenagers.

Medcync was started by two management students, Sowmiya Reddy, Sachin Manishi, and an alumnus of Harvard Medical School, Dr Anupama Gangawati. Having identified chronic disease as a rising epidemic, they built Medcync as a support network for both the doctor and patient community.

Nilekani said the number of smartphone users in the country is expected to touch 500 million by 2018 from 150 million presently. With the rise in smartphone sales and corresponding fall in its prices in the country, most of the startup ideas today are into smartphone applications. "Every business can be re-imagined through a smartphone," he said.

"With the mobile in the new world, the two factor authentication will be your phone and eye. We are working with four vendors who will embed iris cameras in their phones, which are expected to hit the market in the next six months. You can get an Apple Pay experience on every phone," Nilekani, also the former chairman of UIDAI, explained.

Nilekani also referred to the "India Stac" - a six layer application programme interface (API), that uses the smartphone platform. The API's can help in online authentication of identity, opening bank accounts through electronic KYC, digital signature from a mobile phone using Aadhaar authentication, electronic system of documentation, create an interoperable mobile payment system and empower individuals to access their own data.

8760 - Consultation programme on Aadhaar number held - Shillong Times

Consultation programme on Aadhaar number held

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

NONGSTOIN: The Rilyngngam Rural Development Association,  Mawthengkut (RRDAM) on Friday conducted a consultation programme at Bishop Hall, Nongstoin under the theme “ church leader consultation on Aadhaar Number”.

The programme was attended by various church leaders including Pastors, church leaders and other representatives from different church where Rev. PBM Basaiawmoit was a resource person.

After a speech by Rev. Basaiawmoit and a thorough discussion between the church leaders, it was decided in the meeting to send a letter to the Deputy Commissioner of the District, State Government and to the Parliament of India to postpone the implementation of ADHAR number in the District until a clear information could be given to the public.

8759 - Supreme Court to hear PIL challenging mandatory Aadhaar for Digital Locker on 28 Sept -Legally India

Supreme Court to hear PIL challenging mandatory Aadhaar for Digital Locker on 28 Sept

BY ONELAWSTREET

While the Aadhaar challenge petitions await their turn to be heard by a constitution bench, on Monday – 28 September, Supreme Court of India will hear a public interest litigation petition seeking a direction from the Court that Aadhaar card may not be made mandatory to avail the services of ‘Digital Locker’.

The PIL which was filed on July 3, 2015 by a Gurgaon resident – Sudhir Yadav contends that the government’s insistence of Aadhaar cards was in violation of the Supreme Court’s orders not to insist for Aadhaar as well as fundamental right to equality guaranteed under the Constitution. Before the matter could be heard, on August 11, the three-judge bench hearing the Aadhaar challenge has referred the matter to a constitution bench while asking the Union of India and other government bodies to use Aadhaar for limited purposes. Earlier on September 23, 2013, March 24, 2014 and March 16 2015, Supreme Court had passed orders not to make Aadhar mandatory for availing government benefits.

On August 11, Court had inter alia ordered:

The production of an Aadhaar card will not be condition for obtaining any benefits otherwise due to a citizen;

The Unique Identification Number or the Aadhaar card will not be used by the respondents for any purpose other than the PDS Scheme and in particular for the purpose of distribution of foodgrains, etc. and cooking fuel, such as kerosene. The Aadhaar card may also be used for the purpose of the LPG Distribution Scheme;

Petition

Case No.	Writ Petition (C) No. 492 of 2015 [PIL]
Case Title	Sudhir v. Union of India
Bench	Chief Justice of India HL Dattu Justice Amitava Roy
Prayer	“Issue a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the Respondent not to insist for AADHAAR CARD to get the benefit of Digital Locker”.

DigiLocker

As a part of the Digital India campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 1, 2015 had launched the digital locker facility named as Digilocker, which aims at helping citizens to digitally store their important documents, such as PAN card, passport, mark sheets and degree certificates. As per the data available on its website, as of now there are 9,70,490 users of Digilocker who have stored over 8,78,077 documents on their lockers. The DigiLocker service is provided by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, under the Ministry of Communications & IT.

Aadhaar a pre-requisite to apply

Possession of a valid Aadhaar card is a pre-requisite to sign up for a DigiLocker. The official website digitallocker.gov.in says:

How can I get a DigiLocker account?

To sign up for DigiLocker, you need your Aadhaar number (issued by UIDAI). There are two ways to sign up:

1. Mobile OTP: Use this method if your Aadhaar number is linked to your mobile number.
2. Biometric:If you have a biometric device attached to your computer, you can sign up by scanning your fingerprint

Mohit Singh

Mohit Singh is an advocate at the Supreme Court of India.

8758 - Special Aadhaar enrolment camp for school students - The Hindu

ERODE, September 26, 2015

Special Aadhaar enrolment camp for school students

• SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The special camp for issuing Aadhaar cards for 1.4 lakh left-out school students was inaugurated at the Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Erode, by District Collector S. Prabakar on Friday.

Of the 3.6 lakh school students, 1.6 lakh had received their Aadhaar cards and 40,000 had enrolled but were yet to receive their cards.

The 1.4 lakh left-out students will be covered over the next three months in all the 14 blocks simultaneously, at the rate of 40 to 50 students per school per day.

Kits

Twenty out of 50 enrolment kits sought for the purpose by the Election Department have been provided. The remaining kits will be augmented for the exercise in a week’s time, according to official sources.

College students

A similar exercise will be carried out to cover left-out college students too.

8757 - SC dismisses PIL challenging Aadhaar card requirement for DigiLocker scheme - Live Mint

SC dismisses PIL challenging Aadhaar card requirement for DigiLocker scheme

SC refused to entertain a PIL challenging the requirement of Aadhaar card number for the DigiLocker scheme introduced by the govt earlier

Shreeja Sen

A bench comprising chief justice H.L. Dattu and justice Amitava Roy said that if the authorities were not following the court’s orders, then he had to file a contempt petition. Photo: Mint

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the mandatory requirement of Aadhaar card number for the DigiLocker scheme introduced by the government earlier.

The petitioner had filed a writ petition in the light of three apex court orders which said that Aadhaar numbers could not be made compulsory for certain services like the public distribution scheme and cooking gas subsidies.

A bench comprising chief justice H.L. Dattu and justice Amitava Roy said that if the authorities were not following the court’s orders, then he had to file a contempt petition. After saying so, the court dismissed the PIL.

Mint reported in August that several key digital schemes introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including biometric attendance, Jan Dhan Yojana, digital certificates, pension payments and more recently payments banks, depend on the Aadhaar number

8756 - India set to become data rich quickly: Nilekani - Bharat Press

India set to become data rich quickly: Nilekani

BENGALURU: India is set to become data rich from data poor in three to 4 years, helped by greater penetration of Aadhaar playing cards and an increase in individuals who personal smartphones, former Infosys co-founder and chief government, Nandan Nilekani, stated.

Nilekani stated that India’s distinctive digital id platform, which is predicted to cowl a few billion individuals by 2016, and the speedy rise in smartphone utilization “opens up an entire new approach of taking a look at purposes.”

“These, added with the federal government’s thrust on monetary inclusion to have financial institution accounts for all its residents, creates an infrastructure that has by no means occurred earlier than,” in accordance to Nilekani, who was delivering a keynote handle at an annual occasion in IIM Bangalore.

8755 - US govt hack includes 1.1 mn fingerprints - Planet Biometriucs

US govt hack includes 1.1 mn fingerprints 

10 July 2015 13:37 

A cyberattack on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that saw 22.1 million personal records stolen also involved the loss of 1.1 million fingerprints, the OPM has noted in a statement.

The data was taken from people who have undergone background checks for security clearances.

The total number included some 19.7 million who applied for the clearances for federal roles, plus 1.8 million non-applicants, mostly spouses or co-habitants of applicants, the agency said.

The 1.1 million fingerprints stolen represents 0.3% of the US population, while the total of 22.1 million represents almost 7%. 

According to a procedural document from 2013: “Fingerprints are submitted to OPM’s Fingerprint Transaction System (FTS) electronically via an FBI approved live-Scan System or Fingerprint Card Scan System that utilizes OPM-approved software. Currently, OPMonly accepts Type-4 fingerprint images for electronic submission.”

However, OPM also receives hardcopy fingerprints and scans the fingerprints to an Electronic Fingerprint Transmission Specification (EFTS) file to forward to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

- See more at: http://www.planetbiometrics.com/article-details/i/3263/#sthash.lUfKduRw.dpuf

8754 - JHARKHAND LAUNCHES FOOD SECURITY ACT - Daily Pioneer

JHARKHAND LAUNCHES FOOD SECURITY ACT

Saturday, 26 September 2015 | PNS | Ranchi | in Ranchi

After failing to meet two deadlines and months of delay the Food Security Act (FSA) meant for near universal food-grain coverage for economically vulnerable sections has been rolled out in Jharkhand. Chief Minister Raghubar Das in the presence of Food and Civil Supplies Minister Saryu Roy launched the scheme on Friday.

The scheme would cover 51,70,159 total number of families and more specifically 2,33,40,832 people have been identified for getting rice at Re 1 per kg per head. As many as 37,37,609 people in the list are from Antyodaya.

"Originally we had about 33 lakh BPL and Antyodaya families. 16 lakh more families came from the lower strata of erstwhile APL category as priority category taking it to total 51.70 lakh families. Antyodaya families would get 35 kg of grain while priority family 5 kg of grain per head at the rate of Re 1 per kg," informed Ravi Ranjan, Special Secretary of the Department. The Act allows Jharkhand to insulate its 86.4 per cent population in rural areas and 60.4 per cent in urban areas from starvation.

"We are still 30 lakh less than the ceiling set for Jharkhand. The Department despite having several hiccups and starting late has worked hard to conduct survey, verify entries and prepare the list. It has been done manually and there may be some lacuna. Some names may have been left out but we have sufficient scope to accommodate more beneficiaries in the days to come," said Saryu Roy.

The Act came into force on July 5, 2013 but got delayed in the State due to various reasons. Earlier, the State Government had announced to implement it from July 1 with eight districts to start with but following the Centre's objection it was decided to roll out before October 1 throughout Jharkhand. Finally, after preparing data and collecting records of beneficiaries based on the socio-economic survey of 2011 it has been executed from September 25.

The feat is not mean for Jharkhand as the Governments of Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat and Kerala in a meeting the Ministry in July had sought over a year to implement the Act while Uttar Pradesh asked for six months. The States were lobbying hard on extending the September 30 deadline set for implementation of the NFS Act citing lack of preparedness back home.

Lauding the achievement of the Department on the occasion, the Chief Minister termed it another step in the direction of taking all along. "Today is the birth day of Deendayal Upadhayay, who first gave the mission of Antyodaya. which talks about the last man in the queue. Our target is to bring smile on the faces of the poor. Providing them grains would save them and their children from malnutrition. We are also working towards no-homeless goal and pension for all widows during 2016-17," added the CM.

He, at the same time, also stressed over the need to raise grain productivity in the State through widespread irrigational facilities so that the supply of rice or paddy for the scheme can be done from here only.

The Department besides, launching the scheme for all, has also worked hard to make it leakage proof. Host of measures such as Aadhaar seeding of ration cards, mobile number updates, biometric handheld devices for dealers, GPS fitted PDS special trucks, SMS alerts to dealers, people's representatives and consumers have been initiated to plug the holes.

"More space would be created as there are certain duplications in the entries made. We have achieved about 15 per cent Aadhaar seeding which would be completed by December to eliminate the duplications. Trucks carrying food grains for PDS shops would be marked clearly and fitted with GPS based alarm system. Its route would be fixed. Consumers also need not to visit the shop again and again but an SMS would go their mobiles about arrival of the grains. More perks would also be given to dealers," said the Minister, narrating some specifications of the scheme in the State under which wheat would also be given in future.